Thinking Thursdays: Farmstay at Flying Cow Ranch

Kids naturally seem to love farm-related stories/books/games (Peekaboo Barn, anyone?), even though some might never get to visit an actual farm.  Since Junior J really loved animals (and farm-related nursery rhymes), we squeezed in two nights for a farmstay when we went for our Taiwan trip.  We stayed at the Flying Cow Ranch in Miaoli, and had a rather pleasant stay over there.

The grounds of the ranch are really huge, with wide open areas suitable for flying kites and having picnics if the weather permits (when we were there, the wind was so strong we thought we'd leave our kite in the car).  It was nice just to explore the grounds during the 3 days we were there, walking around enjoying the fresh air and greenery around us despite the cold weather...

Of course, there were all the farm animals to see...

And you could buy pellets/veggies and feed many of the animals (like the sheep, lambs and rabbits)...

Junior J was rather frightened after trying to feed the larger animals (as they would eagerly nibble the food from your hand, and sometimes nibble your fingers too), but he loved the rabbits:

And would even spend time talking to them (which was so funny considering that he's usually extremely shy!):

Hello Rabbit!  I'm Juju *pats himself on the chest*

Of course, the farm also has various educational demonstrations/shows scheduled at different times of the day, like the duck show, and you also can try your hand at milking a cow (which turned out to be not as easy as it seemed).  Do note though, that the shows/demos get really crowded during the weekends when the farm is swarming with people (the place seems popular with locals too), and on weekdays, some of the shows can suddenly become "no-shows" (the hubby brought the boy down for the duck show when I was packing, and they came back disappointed).

They also let kids "take care" of ducklings and lambs for a short period of time (for a small fee), and we saw many happy children traipsing around carrying a basket with a wildly flapping duckling inside (we didn't think it was fun for the animals though, since the ducklings looked rather stressed at being carted around, and we also spotted a mother with her daughter trying to make the lamb they had on a leash jump for its milk bottle).

On top of these activities, the ranch provides some interesting DIY activities as well, like making various types of cookies, as well as some art and craft.  Staying at the farm entitles you to some vouchers that enable you to participate in some of these activities free (but we missed some due to Junior J's bedtime, since they were run at 8 pm), and you also get vouchers for milk fresh from the farm.  We did manage to attend one art session where we painted piggy banks in the shape of cows, which was sorta fun:

The lady who briefed us told us that we could touch up the little boy's cow using white paint,
and repaint his "mistakes" from there...

... but we decided to let him paint as he wished, and I only helped to paint in the eyes
so that at least Mr Crazy Cow could see. :)  In the end, the boy's cow turned out looking
nicer than my own! I love Mr Cow's crazy happy colours...

All in all, it was a nice visit, and I think the little boy had fun.  The rooms at the farm are clean, spacious and comfortable, and the staff really show attention to detail (the hot water pot is filled up with freshly-boiled water everyday, and you get personally shown to your room)... but you do get the feeling that the farm is like a rural Disneyland of sorts that is out to entertain, rather than a real farm.  So if you're looking to see what life is actually like on an actual farm, and would rather get down and dirty, the farmstays in New Zealand might be a better bet for you.  However, that being said, its still a nice place for families to just stay for a leisurely two days of "rural" goodness! :)

Weekend wanderings: Refreshed

Flowers at the zoo, drenched by the rains

The weekend's over and a new week's begun. How was your weekend?

Ours was pretty busy, since the hubby's parents were visiting, but I must say that I came away feeling rather refreshed:

:: We picked up the in-laws on Friday night, and celebrated my MIL's birthday by having a yummy dinner over at Crystal Jade over at the airport...

:: We went to the zoo on Saturday.  It rained cats and dogs on our journey there, but the rain more of less cleared up when we reached the zoo... :)

We were most amused at the little penguins wobbling along, and amazed at how skillfully they swam!

We sat through one of the animal shows.  The sea lion was really intelligent!
However, Junior J started to get really tired and grumpy half-way through, thanks to all the loud music and overstimulation...

Along the way, we spotted a pair of Orang Utans going for a walk!

The boy was tired most of the trip and both grandparents gladly took turns carrying him...
All in all though, he had fun!

:: Headed down to church on Saturday evening.  My MIL very nicely took Junior J to Children's Church, so for once I got to sit in with hubby to listen to the sermon.  I came away from service with lots to think about, and really was glad for the opportunity to learn more about God... while the little boy went off with lots of goodies since they were celebrating Children's Day in class (he cried and looked for me after an hour, otherwise my MIL said he was a good boy!).

:: Had a really really yummy dinner cooked by my MIL at home, and my parents came by to join us... Assam prawns, veggie soup, kailan with loads of fried garlic, roasted pork ribs and curry fish.  Yumyumyum...

:: Sunday morning saw the hubby going off for his triathlon... and we were so proud of him as he managed to finish! YAY!  We didn't manage to go down to support him unlike his previous race, since the race started at the weirdest time (1020 in the morning!), and would mean that hubby would finish smack in the middle of Junior J's lunch time.  I was so glad to see him back safe (was so worried since he got stung by a jellyfish during the last race, and paranoid me had all sorts of visions of him getting stung and going into anaphylactic shock), though forgetful him didn't put sunscreen, so now he's looking funny with odd tan-lines and lobster red patches on his skin!

:: So instead of going to cheer his papa on, the little boy went to the library and supermarket with his grandparents... while I did my housework (fresh clean laundry... yay!).

My in-laws have gone back, so now its back to the usual routine... and I've so gotta catch up on my writing.  Have a great week ahead!

Thankful Tuesdays: There's always something. :)

Hello!  Its Friday, and I've yet to give thanks yet!  Things have been rather crazy around here.  Both me and the boy recovered from our flu, then the hubby fell sick... Then the boy caught ANOTHER cold, so he's been sneezing oatmeal out by the mouthfuls during every meal...  I've been really busy at home, and have barely touched my research this week.  Ah well.  Anyway, here's my quick list of gratefulness, to remind me to be thankful and not complain so much!

We are thankful this week for:

1. Time spent together as a family, such as another trip to the zoo on Tuesday when the hubby was post-call.  I really love how nicely they've landscaped the entire area, and how they've planted pretty flowers all over the place...

... and I'm sure the boy loved it to!

And we really enjoyed looking at all those amazing animals God created, from the mighty rhinos...

To those really pretty zebras!

2. Hot soup on rainy days.  And hot drinks that soothe a painful sore throat.

3. God's faithfulness.

4. Great friends, that really offer help... From lifts to church to babysitting... they are there when you need them! :)

5. Painted clouds during sunsets.

And on a side note, the hubby will be off for a medical mission trip tomorrow for about 1.5 weeks.  We'd really appreciate prayers for a safe and fruitful trip, especially since he's still sick, and will be the only anaesthetist on the team!

The boy's really gonna miss his papa.  Here he is, pulling his father's ear!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend wanderings: Little celebrations

Junior J and his Kongkong :)

Ok, the hubby and my mum always think I'm nuts when I try to celebrate half birthdays (ie at like 6 months and 18 months) for Junior J... I guess I just try to find any reason for a celebration, after all, it makes one happy, you sometimes get to eat cake, there's usually good food involved, and I mean, there's always something to celebrate about right?

So for the weekend that passed, we made an effort to go out and have fun, in view of the little kid turning one and a half:

The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms in the morning, but it turned out to be:

So we took advantage of the balmy weather and...

:: Went to the zoo, and the boy was fascinated with the otters that were squeaking away (he tried to squeak back!), and also managed to match the elephants to those in his book...

Hey papa, those things at the back look like those in my book!

And he saw the hippos having their own fish spa:

If you take a closer look, you can see fish feeding off the skin of those hippos!

And spent some time waving and blowing kisses to the infamous white tigers:

... and watching the baboons playing:

He also got to eat Ben & Jerry's along with his lunch!

:: Went for dinner at the Botanic Gardens, and brought the dog along too:

Another pizza for the birthday boy, please!
(You can see the open kitchen in the background, where you can watch the pizzas being made!)

Tried pannacotta:

And had a nice walk after that, while the boy chased his own shadow, and the dog lunged at cats:

On Sunday, it was really...

So we stayed in after church so the boy could rest, and celebrated with my family by having yummy Thai food for dinner over at at Wang Thai (@ Blk 92 Toa Payoh Lor 4):

Mango salad... tangy and yummy!

Crispy pork knuckle... Mmmmm!

Since he's now old enough to make it into the toddler class over at Sunday School, we brought him there on Sunday too, and the boy got to:

:: Sing songs (he spent alot of it walking around, while I tried to make him do the actions!)...

:: Make his first artwork with glue (yes, this mama has been depriving him from working with glue, ever since he used crayons on my tree mural!)

:: Eat snacks and interact with a whole bunch of other kids.

:: Experience real school life: Another kid suddenly went up to Junior J and shoved him really hard while he was just wandering around minding his own business, and the boy fell and hit his head.  Cried for abit and insisted on sitting on my lap after that, but he was back to normal 10 minutes later.  

I think all in all, the boy had fun.  I know I did! 

(PS: This post is late, cos I left the camera in the car, so the photos were stuck with the hubby at work!)

Wild Wednesdays; Monkeying down Old Upper Thomson Road

I've blogged before about our trips down to Old Upper Thomson Road, but I've never gone into the details.    Basically, part of this road winds through a forested area, and its a common sight in the evenings to see single cars stopped along the side of the road, with the windows wound down.  Most of these cars usually contain families, with kids, and all of them stop for the same reason: Macaques.  Loads of them.  Bouncing through the trees, checking out each car, fighting, romping around.  

For those staying around the area, a slow drive down there in the evening after work can be quite fun for the kids, since driving through the area makes you feel like you are no longer living in an urban jungle: Cicadas whining away, the lush greenery, and sometimes, if you go earlier in the morning or after a heavy shower, the mist.

Oh, and the monkeys!  The kids are always fascinated by these furry creatures, but mind you, these are bold and fierce fellows that can bite.  So steer your little fellows clear of them, however interested the kids may be...

More information on this monkey menagerie:

1.  Don't feed them, no matter how cute or hungry they look.  (Read this to learn about why you shouldn't!)  And since the macaques have learnt to associate plastic bags with food, do refrain from holding any of these bags if you happen to be near them, and of course, don't tempt them by eating around them!

2.  Monkeys sometimes are culled here because they wander out of their natural habitats and become aggressive.  Again, this is partially due to people feeding them, thinking they are doing them some good. (And if that's not enough a deterrent, NParks imposes a fine on people caught feeding monkeys!)

3. They are omnivorous, and feed on fruits, leaves, shoots, and small animals like small reptiles and spiders.  (And with all that natural good stuff around, they really don't need your wheat bread or biscuits.)

4. They are social animals, and form a troop of 15-30 individuals, consisting of an alpha male, his harem of females and offspring, plus sometimes a few other males.

5. Look out for various activities that these furry creatures engage in, such as feeding, playing (especially with the younger ones), and grooming.  Grooming to them is akin to couples going on dates: It strengthens social bonds. (And in fact, a study shows that some males even use this to get sex from the females.  Though that may not be a fact you'd want to disclose to the kids!)

For more information on macaques in Singapore, you can visit this site.  Or for the kids, here's a useful graphic I scanned off a postcard:

Taken off a Zo Card that I picked up recently.  Done by the RGS Monkey Business team.

Happy monkeying around! :)

Wild Wednesdays: A zoology lesson, at the zoo

Cotton top tamarin

I mentioned some time back that we went to the zoo over the weekend, and we're planning to go back there more often since we've gotten membership passes!  Now some of you parents would shrug and tell me you've been there many times and you're sick of the hippos. And perhaps you've braved the hot sun and stood the kids in front of the elephant enclosure for 10 minutes trying to get a nice shot, only to get a picture of your kids as well as a couple of huge grey backsides with tails flicking at flies.  

Since I know its a commonly visited spot for any family with kids (the really long line of parked cars extending a long way from the zoo when we went there was probably a testament to that), I won't go much into what animals you can see there, or their various attractions available.  Except maybe that the place has a really good water play area that had the hubby drooling (the hubby, not the boy mind you!):

Anyway, you could explore those things much better over at the official zoo website.  However, I thought I might offer up a few alternative "activities" you could do with your kids when you are there, aside from the usual "Look Ma, there's the camel! And the zebras!", snap snap photos and go home routine.

So how about trying these:
:: Encourage the kids to choose just one species of animal to look at for say, 20 minutes or so.  Give the older kids a clipboard and some writing paper, and encourage them to observe just one animal for 5-10 minutes.  Get them to write down all the behaviours the animal engages in (eg. feeding, moving, fighting, sleeping etc).  For the younger kids, they could just give a code name to each behaviour, like F for feeding, to make things easier.  (Meanwhile, you could enjoy your Ben and Jerry's ice cream, with no one bugging you for a mouthful. :p)  If you've done that, you have basically constructed what zoologists term an "ethogram" (Hop over here to read more about them.)

:: After they've gotten a list of behaviours (ethogram), they could extend it even further (if they are not restless that is!).  You could get the kids to observe just one individual for a set period of time (different kids could follow different individuals, for say, 15 minutes), and get them to note down the behaviours that the individual is engaged in at fixed time intervals (eg. every 20 seconds or so, using a digital watch to keep track), using codes to record them down (codes make recording way easier, but you might want to pre-plan your codes with the kids before you start the observation period!).  This actually is known as instantaneous sampling, and is used frequently for research on animal behaviour (for more info on various sampling methods, check this site.)

:: If you're still not sick of that particular animal, the kids can go back and calculate out the percentage time spent engaging in each activity, and maybe draw out bar graphs or pie charts too!  (If they do that, they would have constructed what we call an "activity budget", which shows us how much time an animal spends engaging in each activity.)

This would probably be more suitable for slightly older kids.  The younger children could also observe the animals, however they'll need a lot more guidance (eg. you could ask them about what the animal is doing every 15 seconds, and help them to record it down).  This way, you'll hone their observation skills (and you'll be teaching them an important skill, rather than just stuffing animal facts down their throat!), help them to learn more about and appreciate a certain animal (you could try others the next round), and even teach them some math along the way!

Oh, and before you embark on this activity, you might want to do some planning first, and read up about the animal BEFORE you head down to the zoo.  For younger kids, choose an animal with a simpler behavior repertoire (eg. the goats at the children's zoo).  If you want a challenge, then try the monkeys or primates, since they have a huge range of behaviors, but be warned, there's usually some sexual components there!

If you ever try this, do let me know how it goes!  Happy observing!

Come and play at the Childhood101 ‘We play link up’!

Weekend wanderings: Scrappy, a lil crappy, and lots of happy!

Hello!  How was your weekend?  Ours was rather mixed... For me, there was quite abit of scrappiness.  :)  After agonizing over my crabby data, and having alot of difficulty deciphering the trends, I decided to give my brain a break and did this:

At first glance, you should be able to guess the topic, since I went crazy with all the pear motifs I had, stating with a patterned paper kindly donated by my friend, Jo (who also gave me the ribbon and some of the flowers too!)... (The boy is pretty fussy with food, but pears?  He loves them so much, we sometimes use it as a bribe to make him eat his oatmeal!)  The giant pear was cut out from the paper, and I sandpapered the edges and distressed them with ink... then I topped it off with a stalk and a leaf!

The hubby was saying I should do a layout for myself, since most of the pieces I've been doing were for others, so I took his advice, and added my favourite embellishment, flowers all over (some were from another friend, E... Thanks!), even though it was a layout about Junior J (The leaves were cut out from a patterned paper, and were again, distressed with ink.)  And I layered the blooms like crazy!

This time I tried adding teardrops as well, and I really like how they give an additional dimension to the project...

And since it was related to eating, I took one of the feeding spoons we've been using (if you stare hard enough, you'd realize there are teeth marks on the spoon!), stamped a heart at the bottom using Staz-On ink , and added a flower rub-on as well... so that we can have a memento of one of our favourite spoons.  (Its PVC free, so I guess it'll probably be safe with the papers!)

So here's how it looks (But WAIT!  Scroll down since there were more changes made later...)!

Click to view journalling...

Update: The hubby felt that the layout was a little bare (which I thought was odd, coming from a guy who usually likes things plain and simple), but I took his opinion into account, and added a few more details.  Firstly, I punched out and used 2 little yellow butterflies on the page.  Then I stamped some flower patterns onto white AC cardstock (on the textured side, to give the stamped image some texture) and layered some using foam dots and topped it off with a button:

To add a faint bit of colour to the smaller flowers, I coloured the centres yellow, using a watercolour pencil, and then used a moist cottonbud to spread the colour outwards (didn't use a paintbrush since all of mine are pretty lousy).  Some of the smaller flowers I "popped" out as well, and I cut up an October Afternoon sticker to form the vine.  The leaf was basically an AC rub-on, with part of the same OA sticker layered on top. :)  I had to restrain myself from adding brads to the flower centers, in case the detailing detracted from the title. :p

So the final final piece looks like this!

Patterned paper (American Crafts: Blue Skies- Feeing Alright,

Letterbox- Sincerely, MAMBI Celebrations)

Rub-on (American Crafts: Parcel), Stickers (October Afternoon: Farm Fresh)

Lettering (American Crafts: Thickers- Rocketeer, Remarks- Roosevelt)

Buttons (Basic Grey: Nook & Pantry), Flowers (Prima)

 Brads (American Crafts: Glitter, Basic Grey: Origins, Doodlebug: Crushed Velvet)

Teardrops (The Robin's Nest: Sun Shower)

Stamps (Bo Bunny), Cardstock (American Crafts: White)

And still on the topic of scrapbooking (sorry, its just so fun that I can't help it!), my friend Jo did this really gorgeous notebook for me:

Ain't it pretty?  I grabbed this photo off her blog, with permission,
since I've yet to meet her to get the notebook!

I'd wanted one to write my blessings in, so she designed the cover based on my request... :)  Thanks girl, you are one talented scrapper!  (Do hop over to her blog, to see more notebooks that she designed for others!)

Ok, I'll quit babbling about scrapping now, and move on to the crappy bit:

:: The dog left a few presents for us (both large and small crappy ones) on the kitchen floor, so we had to mop the floor numerous times across the weekend...

:: The boy was out of sorts on most mornings.  On days he was supposed to wake up early, he refused to wake up, thanks to those night wakings that are still pretty frequent.  Then some days, he'd wake up 1.5 hours before he was supposed to, and would ensure (by crawling and head-butting) that he'd woken both his parents up as well. 

:: Junior J was also rather difficult during the past few meals.  He spat.  He threw oatmeal at the dog.  He dumped lego into his cup of water.

Blue plastic water, anyone?

Not enough?  He slathered oatmeal on himself (Hear the gasps of horror from the grandmas?).  He pushed broccoli into his belly button.  And to top it off, during dinner last night, we went to eat Taiwanese noodles, and the boy promptly upset his cup all over the table at the start of the meal!

:: Wait, that's not all! During that same meal, the hubby dropped the diaper bag, and our huge water bottle leaked, all over the restaurant floor, forming a puddle that trickled 2 tables away (I did say the bottle was huge. And it was more or less filled to the brim.)... The diaper bag contents (and you know these bags usually hold loads of kid-related paraphernalia) were all soaked.  And the waitress was understandably rather upset that both father and son had taken turns to help soak the furniture.  I think they'll probably ban us from the place in the future!

BUT!  There were loads of stuff to be happy about this weekend too...

We managed to head down to the zoo even though the hubby was on call on Saturday, and signed up for membership passes. :)  The boy had fun on the boat-ride there, always leaning out and looking at the water...

And he got to pat the goats and horses too! (We saw other animals of course, but that I'll leave for Wed's post.)

We also managed to have a short evening walk at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park, where Junior J insisted on running along the grass verge...

And we really gotta thank God for the weather.  Though it rained both days, the weather was fair when we were out.  And we even got to catch a sunset at the reservoir! :)

I hope everyone had a good weekend... And thank you to those mums who posted all their helpful tips on how to keep Junior J occupied when I'm cooking.  Those were really great tips! :)

PS: And oh btw... this post over at American Crafts made me extremely happy (This, as well as winning a giveaway at one of our local scrap stores!  Okok, no more scrappy stuff!)  Have a great week ahead!